Roundup & preview

The picture you see above amounts to what I did on Saturday (freezing) and Sunday (sore). Moving yule logs (not) from my backyard to the front area for town pickup. All were brought down by the ice storm. So, you see, I was not embellishing last week.

Looking ahead, the City Council meets Tuesday and is expected to address the indoor recreation facility, city finances and the High Rock proposals, among other matters. The High Rock proposals are the three private bids to build a public safety building and more on city-owned land behind City Hall. But they’ve grown into so much more, with two of the proposals recommending paid parking across the city to pay for the new police station and courthouse, and including movie theaters and private development.

Paid parking in the downtown area has been opposed for years by the community’s business interests, i.e., the Downtown Business Association and Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce. The chamber’s president, Joseph Dalton, told me in an interview on Friday that it remains opposed to asking visitors for money to park.

“That’s going to drive people away,” Dalton said. It will also send commuters seeking free parking further outside downtown, which will result in the loss of parking for homeowners, he said. More to come on this for sure.